Friday, August 31, 2018

2018 Fort Hunter Excavations

It’s that time of year again! No, not time
for everything pumpkin spice. It’s time to gear up for the annual
archaeological dig at Fort Hunter Mansion and Park, just north of Harrisburg. For
the last 11 years, the Section of Archaeology of the State Museum of
Pennsylvania has explored the Fort Hunter property in search of remains of the
French and Indian War fort that once was located there. We have found many
clues to the presence of the fort, including a cannonball, numerous military
items, and a possible bake oven; but, not the fort itself. However, we know
from research that the fort was in existence for only seven to eight years out
of the nearly 300 years of historic occupation of this site and we have
uncovered artifacts that tell us much about the other residents of this
property. Not to mention the thousands of years of occupation by Native
Americans. Many of the TWIPA blog posts
have dealt with the various Fort Hunter finds and you can access these by
typing Fort Hunter into the “Search” box on the blog page.

The 2017 dig season focused on fully
uncovering the stone foundation of what we believe to be a smokehouse from the
early 1800s and reopening the block excavation behind the kitchen addition of
the Mansion house that we investigated in 2016. The foundations of the
smokehouse, an octagonal structure in which meats were smoked to preserve them,
were carefully excavated to try to determine how it was constructed and to recover
any artifacts that might have been associated with it to aid in its
interpretation. As the foundation stones were removed, samples of rock and soil
in the bottom of the smokehouse were taken to conduct further analyses.
Following the mapping and removal of all the stones, this area was backfilled.

Area
of the smokehouse foundation partially removed

Come out and see what we find! This is
an opportunity to learn about this important historic site and embrace our
Commonwealth’s heritage. Artifacts will be on display and archaeologists will
be on hand Monday-Friday, 9am-4:30pm (weather permitting) to answer questions
about the site and how field archaeology is conducted. In addition to weekdays,
excavation will take place on Fort Hunter Day on Sunday, September 16,2018.
Excavations will close for the year on October 5, 2018.

Excavations of the foundation revealed clues
to its construction, including how the builder’s trench was dug and how the stones
were fitted together without mortar to form a strong base for the wooden
superstructure. Some stones that were removed even appeared to have been shaped
with steel tools so that they fit together better, creating a stronger
foundation.

Stones
removed from the smokehouse foundation that were shaped with tools to fit
tightly together

The block excavation in the rear of the
kitchen addition had been filled in following the 2016 excavations but was
reopened last year because of the discovery of some interesting artifacts from
the 1700s. Although 2017 excavations in this area did not end up producing much
in the way of fort-related artifacts, some exciting finds were made. A ground
surface believed to be the original surface during prehistoric time periods was
found roughly 2 feet below the current ground level. This surface, called a
buried A-horizon (a dark-colored, heavily organic soil), was covered by years
of natural and manmade (fill) buildup. This A-horizon yielded several hundred
native-made artifacts including pottery, stone weights for fish nets, projectile
points (arrowheads), part of a native-made clay pipe stem, and chipping debris
from making stone tools.

Excavations
in the side yard behind the Mansion’s kitchen addition

In addition, other aspects of the shape,
size, and composition of the side yard were discovered. While this doesn’t
sound very exciting, these factors can help the archaeologists reconstruct the
landscape over time. For instance, we know that portions of the property along
both the Susquehanna River and Fishing Creek were affected by flooding over the
years, especially by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. This flooding caused portions of
the yard to slump into the river and destroyed some of the small outbuildings.
Could it have taken portions of the fort too? We can also see where someone tried
to shore up the bank along the creek side of the yard with a fill of rocks,
concrete, slag, and garbage at some point and then attempted to shore it up again
in later years. The more recent fill layer included a wrapper from a local
bread company, foil food packaging, and plastic garbage as well as light bulbs,
bricks, painting supplies, linoleum fragments, and even a pair of boots! It was
surmised that, following Hurricane Agnes repairs to the house were necessary
and when the work was completed, the debris was thrown in the yard along the
washed-out bank.

This year’s excavations begin on
September 5 and will again focus on the area of the side yard behind the
kitchen addition. We will uncover some of our blocks from 2017 and will expand
them south toward the back (south) foundation of the Mansion. This back
addition was built in the 1870s during the Boas/Reily family occupation of the
house. Based on oral tradition, the house is generally believed to have been
built over top of the fort’s blockhouse, so the archaeologists will try to get
as close to the house as they can. By doing this, we hope to find remains of
the fort or palisade, as well as to determine construction techniques of the
house foundation and recover additional artifacts related to both. In addition,
the Native American occupation level appears to continue south and we hope to
recover additional artifacts and discover features related to this occupation.

Excavation filled at the end of 2017 season and area
at rear of the house to be excavated in 2018

Come out and see what we find! This is
an opportunity to learn about this important historic site and embrace our
Commonwealth’s heritage. Artifacts will be on display and archaeologists will
be on hand Monday-Friday, 9am-4:30pm (weather permitting) to answer questions
about the site and how field archaeology is conducted. In addition to weekdays,
excavation will take place on Fort Hunter Day on Sunday, September 16,2018.
Excavations will close for the year on October 5, 2018.

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One Tank Trip

WFMZ-TV 69 from Reading, Pennsylvania visited The State Museum of Pennsylvania on February 8th, 2017. Karin Mallett prepared a feature piece on great places to visit that are one tank of gas from Reading and our gallery was the focus of this visit. Karin interviewed Kurt Carr, Senior Curator and Janet Johnson in the gallery and provide a nice overview of the spectacular exhibits. Please click on the link below and enjoy this glimpse of the museum during this One Tank Trip!
One Tank Trip: Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology

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